I find it difficult to not be cynical, especially after the last 4 years , but I really want to believe in the strength that’s returned to leading a country of America’s importance on the World stage, and that it is putting citizens’ interests first. Let’s hope the Whitney Webb scenarios don’t get to play out and a more ‘turned on, tuned in’ society opens up
Discussion
That's a big ask, as 95% of society simply doesn't have a fucking clue what is going on!
I think being cynical is the default choice if you look at the last 25 years. Since 2001 it has been a declaration of war against citizens.
One tell is that the new admin -- whatever they're up to -- is not policing free speech (except when it comes to Israel, to some extent.) That’s a massive difference because when dissent is allowed, the authorities are much more accountable. When they want to avoid accountability, the first thing they do is silence dissent.
The “deport students who support Hamas” is bad because it can be used as a way of suppressing legitimate dissent, e.g., if a student critical of Israel labeled a “Hamas supporter”, but that’s only one narrow topic, and there’s no “disinformation bureau” or push from Trump to police social media.
Now maybe the Twitter algo curtails the reach of some dissenters, so it’s far from perfect. But you’d have to be dense not to see a sea-change in the ability for people to say basically anything now. Kanye West, in his right mind or not, is testing it out, for example.
And it’s hard to run an authoritarian regime when the people are allowed to speak their minds without legal consequence.
Very true Chris. The Israel topic is a real conundrum, but otherwise it does seem more open. We’ll see what AI driven black swan events unfold eh 🤷♂️🤙
Citizens of which country tho? 😉